


Even the Stars Have Names

by Kibbers



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Finn doesn't think he deserves it, Fluff, Insecurity, M/M, Names, Poe gives finn a name, insecure!Finn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-11
Updated: 2016-03-11
Packaged: 2018-05-26 03:56:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6222724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kibbers/pseuds/Kibbers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Names are given to those that deserve it, Finn had been told, over and over again until the words etched in his eardrums and it was all he could hear. Names belonged to the legends and the leaders and the lords of their world. Never to the losers, the loners, the lost.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Even the Stars Have Names

**Author's Note:**

  * For [the_fluffy_unicorn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_fluffy_unicorn/gifts).



> This is for [ this lovely cinnamon roll ](http://yes-ima-fluffy-unicorn.tumblr.com/) because it's her birthday and she's always been so awesome! Go send her some birthday wishes!
> 
> Sidenote: I've only written stormpilot one other time, so please be gentle with me! Also, because apparently this needs to be pointed out, I've only seen the movie so this is based only on what I drew from that. I have not read the novel. To clarify a bit further, this is not the most canon reliant piece of fiction. That being said, enjoy!

_Names are given to those that deserve it_ , Finn had been told, over and over again until the words etched in his eardrums and it was all he could hear. Names belonged to the legends and the leaders and the lords of their world. Never to the losers, the loners, the lost. Kylo Ren, for example, earned the opportunity to have his name scatter across the world’s lips. Though, none of them knew his name had been something else entirely before going Dark Side. They hadn’t been privy to that information for obvious reasons. It would teach them about the triviality of names, and they couldn’t have that. What would there be to work for? **  
**

There were other names, too, they’d picked up or learned. Luke Skywalker had long since earned a whispered name across the mass of troops at mealtimes or in their bunks. They didn’t want to get caught talking about the enemy, though so it was sparingly so.

For some of the Stormtroopers, they made up nicknames. It made them feel more human beneath their masks and armor and training. But, Finn took his lessons to heart. He’d get a name when he earned it, and he’d not yet done that. Hell, he could hardly do as he was supposed to, unable to make himself into something more than a string of numbers with a frozen trigger finger and too many questions.

The planets had names, but their lessons never featured any of them. It gave them too many places to know were out there, too many places they could run to. Better to keep their world limited, their options too. The stars, too had names, but Finn was taught they were all dead anyway so what was the point in learning them all?  He tried, though. Kept lists in his head of all the names he’d tucked away. One day he’d get to add his own to the list. One day.

So, when Poe asked Finn what his name was, all he could say was the string of numbers he’d been given. He wasn’t even sure he’d earned those, now he’d gone rogue and become a traitor to his friends.

“That’s the only name they ever gave me.”  _That’s all I ever deserved._  He was sure once Poe heard, he drop him at the nearest patch of planet and leave him in the dust. There was nothing about him that made him worthy. His name, or lack thereof, proved that.

So Finn waited, breath held, for his one string of hope to snap and leave him behind. But, Poe didn’t react in the way Finn had expected. Didn’t send him back to where he’d come from.

“Well, I ain’t using it. FN, huh? Finn, I’m gonna call you Finn, is that alright?” And Finn, in less than an instant, was floored. He tried not to let it show and accepted the temporary name from the man who knew nothing about what he’d just done. He would correct him later. Explain to him every reason this failed Stormtrooper on the run deserved much less than even a string of numbers. In his chest, his heart grew a hand and it wrapped its fingers around the four letters to hold onto forever despite how loudly his brain screamed for it not to.

But then the ship went down and Poe was nowhere to be found and Finn kept using the name as proof of his worth. To Rey, to Han, to anyone that asked. No one got rid of people with names. Not where he came from.

And later, when Poe came back and Finn woke up to a world of eerie peace, he went to Poe’s bunk to give back his jacket and the name he’d been handed. Finn didn’t deserve any of it. Poe had just been too kind to ask for it back, that was all.

Poe was sitting on his bed, his pilot suit hanging from his waist, a white tank top underneath. He looked up from the book he was reading when Finn knocked on the door, newly repaired jacket hanging from the tips of his fingertips. He resisted the urge to clench his fist in the fabric and never let go.

“I, uh, came to give you back what you gave me,” Finn said, eyes on the floor.

“The jacket? Nah, it’s yours Finn.”

“Not just the jacket,” Finn said, trying to find the words. How to explain to someone he thought he was starting to love just how little he was worth?

“What do you mean?” Poe asked. And of course he had no idea. He’d grown up in a world of names. It was second nature to them all. The dirt had a name, all the stars too. What a world to have grown up in, Finn marveled, to give meaning to everything so trivially.

“Back ho-,” Finn cleared his throat, “back before, we didn’t get names. FN-2187. Soldier numbers for us soldier men.”

Finn sat down on the bed, the sun setting outside the window and chatter filling the hallway as the rest of the base made their way to dinner. Poe stood, and shut the door, giving Finn the bubble of silence he needed to continue.

“We only got a name if we earned it. Phasma, Kylo, Darth Vader. They’d all earned the name they’d been given, had done something worthy of something more than a string of numbers. So, what I’m trying to say here is,” Finn took a breath. Everything in him tried to choke down the next sentence, wanting so badly to clutch onto the name Poe’d given him. It had sank into his blood, had become a part of him so quickly. “What I mean is, I came to give back this name. You can give it to someone worthy.”

“Finn,” Poe started. Finn, no, not Finn. FN-2187 could feel Poe’s eyes on his face. He kept his own on the door, watching the people of his new home pass by the window, laughter-full and light-footed.

“No-” FN-2187 started.

“ _Finn_ ,” Poe said, voice hard and sharp. “Gah, I don’t even know where to begin.”

He dragged a hand over his face and turned to FN-2187 again. He prepared for an onslaught, the amount of time he’d held onto something he hadn’t earned had gone on long enough. Punishment was overdue.

“Finn. What kind of sick, twisted half-witted-“ he broke off, the thunder in his voice dropping away at Finn’s stiffened shoulders.

“No, you misunderstand. People don’t have to earn a name, Finn. And even if they did, you’ve more than earned yours. Please, Finn, keep the name. And the jacket. I think-” he paused again and knelt in front of Finn, waiting to catch his eyes. “I think they’ve just been waiting for you to come along to find a home.”

“Names are for the legends of the world.”

“What if I say you’re a legend in mine?” Poe said, his hand wrapping around Finn’s in his lap.

Finn, inches from Poe now, felt the words brush across and sink into his skin. He was waiting for the ball to drop, for the moment Poe would back away and take it all back, his words, the jacket, his name, everything. His heart was pounding, crying out in an effort to hang onto the things he’d just started to call his own.

“I wish I could give you more than just a name,” Poe whispered.

“You have,” Finn replied. The window of time had passed. It was not a joke. Not a cruel trick. He got to keep his name, his jacket, all of it. There was a warmth coming from Poe, a lightness like the sun. How had he not noticed it before? “You’ve given me a home.”

They met halfway, their lips, their souls.

“Finn,” Poe whispered against his lips.

“Finn,” Poe pressed into his skin.  _Finn, Finn, Finn_. Finn stopped fighting it. Let the name sink back into his bones and settle in for good. Poe made his name into a prayer, a plea.  _Finn_ , he said,  _Finn,_ he sighed.

Finn added his own name to the running list he’d kept since he was a child, and let Poe turn his name into something of a legend, of a God, to echo throughout the room they’d decided to claim as their home. 

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a comment if you feel like it? Also, come say hi on tumblr [ here ](http://kibberswrites.tumblr.com/) at KibbersWrites :)


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